Guitars and such.......
One thing that I neglected to mention in the title is that I play guitar. I'm trying to learn jazz but it is much harder than anything else I've learned. I know a lot of flatpicking bluegrass, some Old Time, some fingerstyle. I can play some country blues and a lot of blues on the electric. Depending on what I am playing, I have different preferences for the type of guitar I play. Here are my main guitars and bit about them......
This is my Fender DG-9 Natural. It has the widest neck I've ever found on a flat-top and it has a nice, bright tone. I've had it for about 4 years now and I use it mainly for fingerstyle. The neck is a little wide for flatpicking. Sadly, it is no longer made by Fender. I don't know why they discontinued it, other than most people don't like a wide neck.
This is my Ibanez Artwood. It has a solid, white spruce top, a bound neck and a smaller fret scale than the Fender. This is my main acoustic and what I use for everything. The only complaint I have about this guitar are the tuners. I'm an Ibanez fan but they have horrible stock tuners. Otherwise, this guitar is the best I've found for the price range. I can't afford a Martin or a Santa Cruz.
This summer marks my 20th year of playing guitar. I always used to wonder why any guitarist would play such an ugly guitar. Then two years ago this one caught my eye. I loved the finish and sat down with it at the music store. I was amazed at how easy these are to play. I understand why jazz guitarists use them. The action is incredibly low and fast. The pick guard allows you to station your hand over the strings. Fingerstyle and picking are both easier. Gibson and Gretsch hold the market on these guitars. And they sell used for $1,100 to $1,200. Ibanez came out with an economy model called the Artcore Hollowbody. They skimpped on a few things, mainly the tuners and the pickups. I replaced the pickups with Atilla Zollers (handmade German piezo pickups). I've also been waiting for a year for a set of Schaller tuners to come in so that I can replace these. The knobs were also switched out for knurled chrome and the nut was replaced with an Earvana.
This is my Fender- Custom Telecaster FMT HH Electric. This is the electric I go to if I want to play very fast and very bright. The Seymour Duncan pickups have a push-pull coil tap on the tone knob. So they can sound like single coils or humbuckers. You can get the traditional Les Paul sound out of this guitar in addition to the tele sound. Personally, I've always loved the sound of a tele but I HATE the tele's neck. The appeal of this guitar is that it has an extremely thin and narrow neck. Plus the cherry sunburst is beautiful!
This is my favorite guitar of the lot. I bought it in '92 and it's the most I've ever spent on a guitar. It is a Fender Pro Strat. It has a locking nut and Lace Sensor pickups (Lace Sensors debuted that same year on the Eric Clapton Signature Series). The pickups are warm and clean, not very bright. I had the headstock signed by one of my favorite guitarists about ten years ago (Gibb Droll). His old band's logo sticker is in front of the bridge.
If I were to hit the lottery tomorrow, these are the guitars that I would run out and buy immediately.
CF Martin - DCE Trey Anastasio Acoustic/Electric Guitar The DC Trey Anastasio Signature Edition blends form and function in a style as original as the man himself. A Dreadnought body with a smoothly curved Venetian cutaway allows for easy access to the upper frets. Solid tonewoods yield an exceptionally clear, full tone, enhanced with a top of rare Italian alpine spruce, East Indian rosewood sides and a three-piece back with “wings” of East Indian rosewood and a center wedge of beautifully flamed Hawaiian koa. A 1-11/16” (at the nut) low profile genuine mahogany neck provides playing comfort. Distinctive appointments include a flamed Hawaiian koa headplate with eye-catching headstock and fingerboard inlays. It’s a practical guitar that looks and plays as good as it sounds, and it is offered with Fishman’s acclaimed onboard Ellipse™ Blend System that delivers superb live and recorded sound. And a nice $4,000 pricetag.
Dean - Schenker Brothers V Limited Edition Guitar
Only 200 of these guitars are being produced worldwide! This surefire collector's treasure is made from mahogany, along with a "5A" grade flamed maple top that is laser-engraved with the Schenker brothers' portraits and flames. Even the ebony fingerboard is inlaid with MOP flame designs! The neck is made from mahogany as well. Other top-notch appointments include Grover tuners, a custom "S" tailpiece, cream body and neck binding, custom heel, and gold plated hardware. Includes a set of custom-designed humbuckers so you can rock out whenever you want to take it off the wall display. This one is only $6,000.
Fender - Yngwie Malmsteen Stratocaster® Unleash the fury! In addition to the Swedish shred maestro’s trademark scalloped fretboard and brass nut, theYngwie Malmsteen Stratocaster guitar has a unique pickup combination—two DiMarzio YJM Pickups in the neck and middle positions, and one DiMarzio HS-3 Stack in the bridge position. Other features include a large headstock, original synchronized tremolo and aged plastic parts. Available with maple or rosewood fingerboard. $1,400.
The Tony Rice Professional Model includes certain design elements that further customize the guitar for those players seeking to emulate the style of the legendary bluegrass player. The back and sides of the guitar are made from Brazilian rosewood, and the top is carved from German spruce. The shorter scale length of 25-1/4" provides a slightly more supple feel and a sweeter tone. The soundhole on this model has been enlarged to 4-9/16", which provides a stronger response in the upper ranges. Other features include ivoroid/black/ivoroid binding on the fingerboard and peghead, and SCGC tuners. Somewhere around $3,500-$4,000.
Well, these are what I dream of at nights.
This is my Fender DG-9 Natural. It has the widest neck I've ever found on a flat-top and it has a nice, bright tone. I've had it for about 4 years now and I use it mainly for fingerstyle. The neck is a little wide for flatpicking. Sadly, it is no longer made by Fender. I don't know why they discontinued it, other than most people don't like a wide neck.
This is my Ibanez Artwood. It has a solid, white spruce top, a bound neck and a smaller fret scale than the Fender. This is my main acoustic and what I use for everything. The only complaint I have about this guitar are the tuners. I'm an Ibanez fan but they have horrible stock tuners. Otherwise, this guitar is the best I've found for the price range. I can't afford a Martin or a Santa Cruz.
This summer marks my 20th year of playing guitar. I always used to wonder why any guitarist would play such an ugly guitar. Then two years ago this one caught my eye. I loved the finish and sat down with it at the music store. I was amazed at how easy these are to play. I understand why jazz guitarists use them. The action is incredibly low and fast. The pick guard allows you to station your hand over the strings. Fingerstyle and picking are both easier. Gibson and Gretsch hold the market on these guitars. And they sell used for $1,100 to $1,200. Ibanez came out with an economy model called the Artcore Hollowbody. They skimpped on a few things, mainly the tuners and the pickups. I replaced the pickups with Atilla Zollers (handmade German piezo pickups). I've also been waiting for a year for a set of Schaller tuners to come in so that I can replace these. The knobs were also switched out for knurled chrome and the nut was replaced with an Earvana.
This is my Fender- Custom Telecaster FMT HH Electric. This is the electric I go to if I want to play very fast and very bright. The Seymour Duncan pickups have a push-pull coil tap on the tone knob. So they can sound like single coils or humbuckers. You can get the traditional Les Paul sound out of this guitar in addition to the tele sound. Personally, I've always loved the sound of a tele but I HATE the tele's neck. The appeal of this guitar is that it has an extremely thin and narrow neck. Plus the cherry sunburst is beautiful!
This is my favorite guitar of the lot. I bought it in '92 and it's the most I've ever spent on a guitar. It is a Fender Pro Strat. It has a locking nut and Lace Sensor pickups (Lace Sensors debuted that same year on the Eric Clapton Signature Series). The pickups are warm and clean, not very bright. I had the headstock signed by one of my favorite guitarists about ten years ago (Gibb Droll). His old band's logo sticker is in front of the bridge.
If I were to hit the lottery tomorrow, these are the guitars that I would run out and buy immediately.
CF Martin - DCE Trey Anastasio Acoustic/Electric Guitar The DC Trey Anastasio Signature Edition blends form and function in a style as original as the man himself. A Dreadnought body with a smoothly curved Venetian cutaway allows for easy access to the upper frets. Solid tonewoods yield an exceptionally clear, full tone, enhanced with a top of rare Italian alpine spruce, East Indian rosewood sides and a three-piece back with “wings” of East Indian rosewood and a center wedge of beautifully flamed Hawaiian koa. A 1-11/16” (at the nut) low profile genuine mahogany neck provides playing comfort. Distinctive appointments include a flamed Hawaiian koa headplate with eye-catching headstock and fingerboard inlays. It’s a practical guitar that looks and plays as good as it sounds, and it is offered with Fishman’s acclaimed onboard Ellipse™ Blend System that delivers superb live and recorded sound. And a nice $4,000 pricetag.
Dean - Schenker Brothers V Limited Edition GuitarOnly 200 of these guitars are being produced worldwide! This surefire collector's treasure is made from mahogany, along with a "5A" grade flamed maple top that is laser-engraved with the Schenker brothers' portraits and flames. Even the ebony fingerboard is inlaid with MOP flame designs! The neck is made from mahogany as well. Other top-notch appointments include Grover tuners, a custom "S" tailpiece, cream body and neck binding, custom heel, and gold plated hardware. Includes a set of custom-designed humbuckers so you can rock out whenever you want to take it off the wall display. This one is only $6,000.
Fender - Yngwie Malmsteen Stratocaster® Unleash the fury! In addition to the Swedish shred maestro’s trademark scalloped fretboard and brass nut, theYngwie Malmsteen Stratocaster guitar has a unique pickup combination—two DiMarzio YJM Pickups in the neck and middle positions, and one DiMarzio HS-3 Stack in the bridge position. Other features include a large headstock, original synchronized tremolo and aged plastic parts. Available with maple or rosewood fingerboard. $1,400.
The Tony Rice Professional Model includes certain design elements that further customize the guitar for those players seeking to emulate the style of the legendary bluegrass player. The back and sides of the guitar are made from Brazilian rosewood, and the top is carved from German spruce. The shorter scale length of 25-1/4" provides a slightly more supple feel and a sweeter tone. The soundhole on this model has been enlarged to 4-9/16", which provides a stronger response in the upper ranges. Other features include ivoroid/black/ivoroid binding on the fingerboard and peghead, and SCGC tuners. Somewhere around $3,500-$4,000.Well, these are what I dream of at nights.
posted by jambander at
9:17 PM
4 Comments:
Didn't you used to have a flying V? I thought you used to have a flying V.
By the way, thought you'd like to know that there are a few other bloggers who list Gibb Droll as one of their favorite artists. Might be worth checking out their blogs.
OK, gotta run... we're about to leave for church. After that we thought we'd come home and watch "Wolf Creek" with the kids. ;)
I have 7 guitars, total. The 2 not pictured have been given to Annie. The other 5 are kept in my bedroom closet. Yes, I used to have an Ibanez black and white Flying V. That's the one my brother sold to Wayne (the arch nemesis) for $70 so he could go buy pot.
I bought the Trey Anastasio DCE and it is awesome
Bryan,
One thing I've been very curious about is the shape of the neck. Is it v-shaped, rounded, modified rounded? Also, how's the action in the upper register. Some acoustic cutaways I've played have a very high action once you get into the 12th fret and above.
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